Wedding Planning and The Holidays

Congratulations on your engagement! You’re ready for the wedding planning to begin but aren’t quite prepared for the amount of questions family and friends are going to bring up over the holidays about your big day. On the other hand, perhaps you and your significant other haven’t taken the next step with an engagement and you’re prepping to field all the “When are you finally going to get married?” questions. [Don’t worry – proposal season begins with Thanksgiving so the ‘pop’ may be just around the corner, *wink wink*]. Either way you may not be able to avoid these conversations but you can learn how to navigate them in the best way possible.

First, have some answers ready to go. Before any family gatherings, discuss with your partner how you want to approach certain topics when they are brought up. Family will be excited to hear what your plans are but if you have short, prepared answers then you can keep their stream of questioning at bay.

It’s okay to not give or have all the answers. Sometimes family doesn’t need to know everything. If you have set a date or time of year for the wedding, are you sharing it with people at this time? If you haven’t booked some important pieces like venue, then it might be best to keep it to yourself before putting a date out there. Your aunt may start interrogating you asking if you’ve thought of X, Y, or Z, but if you just got engaged you obviously won’t have every aspect planned yet. Thank her for her input and say those are all great things to consider, then move on. There’s no need to get overwhelmed by not having an answer to every question.

Stand your ground. When relatives can’t stop themselves from inserting their opinions on things you’ve already decided on, gently explain why these choices are important to you and your partner. For instance, you have a lot of kids in your family but want an adult only reception or you’re choosing a venue that only allows for an intimate crowd. You can approach these subjects without turning into a brides/grooms – zilla and your relatives will appreciate the explanation of why these decisions are meaningful to you.

Know when to change the subject. When you are engaged and wedding planning, people tend to act like that’s the only thing you have going on in your life but that’s certainly not the case. Chat about your new promotion at work, the trip you just took, the new tv show you’re obsessed with or you can turn the conversation towards them and ask about new happenings in their lives.

Remember to have fun! Wedding planning is exciting and it’s fun to figure out your vision, then see it come to life. Unfortunately, one big stressor can be family conversations. Take a step back every once and awhile to keep in mind that you are marrying the love of your life which is the most important part. Need help along the way? Working with an experienced coordinator or wedding planner can relieve tons of the stress that can come with wedding planning. Contact Naturally Yours Events to get started!

Hello there! Thanks for visiting our blog. Naturally Yours Events is a full service event planning company in Chicago. We specialize in eco-friendly weddings and events that are unique and memorable. Like what you see? Let us know how we can help with your event. Email us!